flying a wreck

[5pguy]

I'm starting a club and soon our members will meet to discuss our top
10 planes. 1 of the planes being considered has been in an accident
where the bird flipped over (C172). The repairs were preformed as
needed and the plane has been flying for many years.

Should a club consider this plane (even if it has been ok'd by an
independent A&P) or stay away from damages that might throw a gray
cloud over the value of the shares and the safty of the club.

[Dude]

Whenever buying a plane with damage history, extra diligence is called for.

If the plane has many hours, and a few years since the repairs. And, if it
all still checks out, then safety is likely not a concern. So long as a good
AP can check out the 337's, and see that all the work is good (this may mean
looking under some panels), you are probably getting a good bird at a
bargain.

Marketability may be an issue though.


"5pguy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I'm starting a club and soon our members will meet to discuss our top
> 10 planes. 1 of the planes being considered has been in an accident
> where the bird flipped over (C172). The repairs were preformed as
> needed and the plane has been flying for many years.
>
> Should a club consider this plane (even if it has been ok'd by an
> independent A&P) or stay away from damages that might throw a gray
> cloud over the value of the shares and the safty of the club.
>

[Colin W Kingsbury]

"5pguy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I'm starting a club and soon our members will meet to discuss our top
> 10 planes. 1 of the planes being considered has been in an accident
> where the bird flipped over (C172). The repairs were preformed as
> needed and the plane has been flying for many years.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is the key point. The chief risk with a repaired bird is the repairs
not being done properly, and in this one case time is on your side. The
longer ago the repair, the more likely any problems with it have exposed
themselves. Of course, cue broken record, these areas should receive extra
attention on a serious pre-buy. Otherwise, a plane with "bad credit" can be
a good investment since so many buyers won't even consider them.

As a result, God only knows how many planes are sold "No Damage History"
with repairs that never made the logbooks. I'll bet if you computed the % of
planes in the fleet that *should* have a damage history versus the % of ads
in TAP that say "NDH" you'd find a significant gap.

-cwk.

[OtisWinslow]

"Colin W Kingsbury" > wrote in message
ink.net...
>
>
> As a result, God only knows how many planes are sold "No Damage History"
> with repairs that never made the logbooks. >
> -cwk.
>
>

I had one I looked at that the FAA showed an accident with "significant
damage"
and there was no log book entry or 337s that it was every repaired. Walked
away from that one.

Do an accident/incident on any plane you're looking to buy.

[Matt Barrow]

"OtisWinslow" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Colin W Kingsbury" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> >
> >
> > As a result, God only knows how many planes are sold "No Damage History"
> > with repairs that never made the logbooks. >
> > -cwk.
> >
> >
>
> I had one I looked at that the FAA showed an accident with "significant
> damage"
> and there was no log book entry or 337s that it was every repaired. Walked
> away from that one.
>
> Do an accident/incident on any plane you're looking to buy.

A good idea, but isn't failure to report/log such things a felony?

[George Patterson]

Matt Barrow wrote:
>
> A good idea, but isn't failure to report/log such things a felony?

No.

George Patterson
He who tries to carry a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in
no other way.

[Nathan Young]

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:59:54 GMT, George Patterson
> wrote:

>
>
>Matt Barrow wrote:
>>
>> A good idea, but isn't failure to report/log such things a felony?
>
>No.

It would be nice if it was.

[[email protected]]

A decent shop should be able to determine whether the repairs have been
done properly. If so, you could probably get the plane at a discount
from normal price which minimizes your capital investment and leaves
room for some upgrades. You'll get a little less than you sell it but
so what since you already have your discount in hand.

[S Herman]

A club I "know of" in the last year had a gear up in a C177RG (pilot
error), a prop strike in a Citabria on bounced landing, prop strike in
an Arrow (guy ran over the taxi lights taxiing after a night landing),
and a Cherokee 180 basically totalled in an off airport landing (guy
ran one tank, then the other dry before looking for a place to set
down). Not a one of these shows up in searches of the NTSB or FAA
databases . . . I'm not sure about the first three, but I'm sure a
totalled $60,000 airplane caused by running it out of gas is required
to be reported.

>>> A good idea, but isn't failure to report/log such things a felony?
>>
>>No.
>
>It would be nice if it was.